


How Hinata Shouyou ended up with a Fiancé before a Boyfriend

by MeetTheRoyalMess



Series: The Hows of Hinata and Kageyama's Relationship [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Engagement, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, M/M, Making Out, Manga Spoilers, Volleyball Dorks in Love, heavy making out, time skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29457123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeetTheRoyalMess/pseuds/MeetTheRoyalMess
Summary: Shouyou straightens his shoulders and marches forward before another thought can flit through his brain. If he’s going to act stupid, then he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make the grandest and explosively idiotic decision that he possibly can. Which is exactly why he’s getting on a plane with a direct course to the town where his forever rival, Kageyama Tobio, had decided to make his home.With only a single text message serving as a warning of his impending arrival.~Or, in which, Hinata manages to go visit Kageyama a single man, and return with an engagement.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Series: The Hows of Hinata and Kageyama's Relationship [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2174118
Comments: 24
Kudos: 203





	How Hinata Shouyou ended up with a Fiancé before a Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote all of this yesterday...god help me. this literally stemmed from me wanting to write an engagement fic where they didn't date first and hinata came up with a "bright idea" of how their names should be arranged after their marriage. nothing else. brain blank, only them on Valentine's Day.  
> I also tried some different things! some skips in time (I need to work on time comprehensions) and switching pov between hinata and kageyama. hopefully it still translates well!! anyways. I hope y'all enjoy!!! <3

It’s times like now that Hinata Shouyou truly believes that he has never made a single intelligent decision in his entire life. And he means it this time, damnit.

The bustling crowds surrounding him reek of a desperation only kin to those who are about to miss their flight. Every individual brushing past him in a burst of color and newfound determination to reach their destination just in the nick of time. The glistening faux marble glares at him from every angle, the fluorescent lights catching every inch of the smooth surface beneath his ratty sneakers and reflecting it in the most unpleasant way possible. Amidst the chaos and burgeoning panic as each minute trickles past like sand in an hourglass, Shouyou’s feet remain rooted in the exact same spot that he’d been in for the better part of an hour.

Shouyou…shouldn’t be here. He wonders what he possibly could have thought in order to convince himself to come this far, but he’s not entirely sure he ended up in front of the obnoxious digital sign with anything less than pure instinct.

The name of the city that he really should not go to blinks slowly, like a naughty cat awaiting its owner’s next move, anticipating though expecting the same result as the many times before that. Shouyou’s calloused fingers wind tighter around the rough material of his duffle bag strap, as if he could strangle the desire to hop on a 7 p.m. plane. His throat feels like it’s been drained of every speck of water and his heart thumps a rhythm far more intense than he’s used to when he isn’t on the court.

Shouyou should move. He needs to move. The apprehension seeps into his skin and turns to lead in his veins. He’s trapped there—he feels like he has been for quite a while—as the molten metal sinks to his fingertips and heels, solidifying into a burn he can’t quite bring himself to bear.

(He’s not the invincible teenager he once was. He can’t take the world head on with soaring leaps and wide grins quite like he used to. He’s floating along now—no, he’s falling. Falling, falling, always falling. Like the earth will swell and swallow him whole because something is missing.) 

_“Dumbass, can’t even get on a plane properly.”_

A gentle laugh exhales from his nose and a singular corner of his lips quirk up ever so slightly. It’s been a while hasn’t it? Too long…too long…yeah.

A new poison seeps into his veins, one that always seems to carry the side effect of Shouyou making impulsive and reckless decisions (it’s a feeling he’s familiar with, especially in his teenage years). In small increments, it eats away at the metal underneath his skin and before too long, he can extend his cramping fingers from their clenched fist.

One breath in, hold, long breath out.

Shouyou straightens his shoulders and marches forward before another thought can flit through his brain. If he’s going to act stupid, then he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make the grandest and explosively idiotic decision that he possibly can. Which is exactly why he’s getting on a plane with a direct course to the town where his forever rival, Kageyama Tobio, had decided to make his home.

With only a single text message serving as a warning of his impending arrival.

* * *

_2 hours earlier_

* * *

Being a part of the MSBY Black Jackals is a fever dream. The friendships he’s formed are exhilaratingly fun but most importantly the volleyball is equally as thrilling. He’s missed being on the court more than he thought he would. It feels ridiculous for him to think like this because he’s spent the past two years doing little else but play volleyball.

It’s something about the hardwood flooring against his sneakers as he prepares to jump, the fluorescent lighting reflecting harshly off their sweating skin. Weirdly enough, it fills him with nostalgia the first time he plays back in Japan.

But even with all this excitement, all the practices draining the energy from his muscles, Shouyou always ends up where he is now: lying flat on his back, a hand pressed right over where his heart would be, feeling it beat in his hands to prove that it’s still there. That there are truly organs that lie in the dark emptiness within his chest cavity.

Dramatic, he knows. But is it awful that it’s true?

Shouyou has also never been a patient person, impulsive to a fault truly. He had more than enough memories from high school to support this. Especially with Kageyama egging him on.

Kageyama…

Shouyou’s heart does an odd little squeeze at the name, like the surrounding veins are looping themselves into a noose around the organ and getting tighter and tighter every time his best friend’s name is mentioned.

A short breath exits his nose as he turns on his side and curls into one of the sterile pillows of his rented apartment, burying half of his face into the fabric and fixating his gaze to the opposite wall. It’s a pasty yellow; he’s always hated that color, but they won’t let him paint over it.

It’s…been a while since he’s seen Kageyama (okay, he really needs to get his heart checked out, this is a problem). He thinks it’s been two years? Maybe even three? That’s much more than he had ever expected, even after accepting the opportunity to go to Brazil way back in their high school years.

(Sometimes he looks back on the moment that he told Kageyama that he was choosing to accept the offer. He doesn’t know what he expected. Anger? Yeah, definitely anger. Instead what Shouyou got was a snapshot of dark blues eyes widened almost imperceptibly and lips parted ever so slightly, the wrinkle permanently etched into his brow abruptly disappearing. After the years he spent with him, this was one of the few faces Shouyou was still unfamiliar with.

He never got a chance to figure out what it meant.) 

Shouyou squirms on top of the bed sheets, his loose white t-shirt constraining him like a strait jacket.

Thinking back on his high school days is definitely not how Shouyou wants to spend his extra free time that Coach had so graciously given to them. It’s, what, 5:00ish on a Saturday? That’s the earliest he’s been off since middle school…where he didn’t have a team. And now he’s going to devote these precious moments to himself pondering on the likes of Kageyama.

Nope. He’s not going to waste his newfound freedom stuck in his room thinking, of all things. He has to uphold the title of ‘resident dumbass’, after all.

The room’s air is thin and freezing, clawing his throat and lungs out as if it too is seeking warmth. “Too cooooooold,” he whines pitifully into the empty air. Chill bumps mar his sooth skin and his jaw trembles in tiny shivers as he does his best to jut out his bottom lip to pout into the pillow. The blankets are trapped beneath him though and would require effort on his part to slip under them so…he’ll tough it out.

It takes him approximately eighteen seconds before he swan-dives beneath the covers like a man on fire, dripping wet hair be damned.

Shouyou sighes at the tingling warmth crawling into his bones, starting at his fingers and toes before seeping further to sooth his chilled skin.

…okay, so maybe staying inside for just a little bit longer to think things over would be fine too.

Of course, his mind immediately fixates on the previous issue. People lose touch all the time, right? There’s nothing you can do about it if you go your separate ways… It’s not like Shouyou is avoiding Kageyama, anyways, so what’s the big deal that they hadn’t talked in the past few months? It isn’t a big deal, he decides resolutely, sinking deeper into his blanket burrito with a pinched expression. They talked every day in high school, but they are both very busy now. They talk every so often too so why is he getting so upset that he’s been back in Japan for months now and hasn’t seen Kageyama once?

He doesn’t normally turn on his camera the times they do call, only when Shouyou begs him to with wide doe eyes. He still doesn’t show much of his face (he’s awfully bashful sometimes). Even that is different than seeing him in person. So now all Shouyou is left with are the images of third year Kageyama, raven hair falling over dark, hyper-focused eyes.

Either way, it is plenty to keep his crush alive and thriving throughout his training across the world.

He hums quietly, nosing the coarse fabric of the sheets. Heh. Shouyou bets he’d still annoy the absolute hell out of Kageyama by flicking his hair (if he’s grown it back out, that is).

That fact manages to coax a small smile from his lips.

He wonders…how is Kageyama doing? Is he enjoying his team? Has he mastered a spike just as powerful and speedy as the ones they had once done together? He’s never been that chatty but Shouyou mourns the loss of those meaningful words they’d exchange.

Curiosity, he says, is the reason he pulls out his phone. Curiosity, he says, is the reason he searches up Kageyama’s account. Curiosity, he says, is the reason he stalks every last picture and comment on his page for the next forty-two minutes.

As far as professional athletes’ pages go, it’s quite barren. Less than 100 pictures, all of which are months apart from each other. None of them showing Kageyama’s face. Every one of them making the knot in Shouyou’s stomach coil tighter for reasons that evade Shouyou. Maybe it’s simply because he misses looking at Kageyama’s stupidly handsome face…yeah, that’s definitely it.

He hums again, continuing to scroll aimlessly through the decidedly boring profile belonging to Kageyama. Not only is the man an idiot but he doesn’t know how to work a social media page. A snicker escapes his throat. “Guess you’ll always be Baka-yama,” he says, voice fonder than he meant to make it.

He reaches the top of his feed, lingering on the most recent photo.

‘Finally back,’ the caption says. The attached photo is one of a little succulent that Shouyou recalls seeing from earlier on his timeline. (His teammates apparently thought the prospect of Kageyama gently caring for another living thing was hilarious. ‘Meet spiker,’ read the caption. Shouyou is almost completely sure that the only reason he kept posting about said plant, is to repeatedly spite his teammates.)

Where does the mighty and utterly stupid Baka-yama call his home nowadays, hm? Oh…right, he’s in Tokyo, isn’t he?

…only a two-hour flight away from where Shouyou is…huh.

“Weird,” he murmurs, peeking at the time the picture was posted. 

_13 minutes ago._

Kageyama is home.

Kageyama’s home is only two hours away.

Kageyama is only two hours away.

How…interesting.

Shouyou plops his phone down and fixates his gaze on the opposite wall as the rusty cogs in his brain begin to turn. His heart stutters in his chest and the blankets are suddenly too warm.

He cannot do what he’s thinking about doing. He’s probably busy with practice anyways. It’s absurd. It’s stupid. It’s…

Unbidden, he sees Kageyama, lips quirked into a semblance of a half-smile with sparkling dark blue eyes flitting through his brain. _As long as you’re with me, you’re invincible,_ his expression says.

It’s definitely what he’s gonna do with his newfound free time.

Shouyou throws on the nearest pair of clean clothes he has, fumbles for his wallet and chucks random clothes into a duffle, and sprints out the apartment with a light chest and spring in his step. The prospect of annoying Kageyama will never become less exciting.

Shouyou buys his plane ticket as soon as he reaches the stairs.

* * *

Tobio blinks at his phone screen, completely certain that if he did it enough times then the message he received just a few minutes prior would dissolve back into his imagination.

**_so,,,i may or may not have bot a ticket to ur city and may or may not be arriving at tokyo airport in about two hours,,,,,,,,plez be there to pick me up_ **

What…the actual _fuck_?

Tobio sucks in a breath and tries to calm his shaking hands. Damn Hinata’s impulsiveness. Damn the kickstart in his heart when he saw that message. _Damnit,_ he should’ve predicted something like were to happen merely based on Hinata’s nature.

But try as he might to play angry, he is nothing short of elated at the prospect of seeing Hinata.

Tobio rarely ever voices the sentiment (it’s too embarrassing and his pride has its tendencies) but he really, _really_ misses Hinata. That doesn’t help to make this scenario any less nerve-wracking. Though, at the same time, it’s _just Hinata._ Even if they haven’t talked since he’s gotten back to Japan, that doesn’t change the fact that Tobio still knows him as thoroughly as he knows the grooves of a volleyball.

Tobio lets an exasperated _tsk_ slip past his lips as he forces himself off of his own couch. He plucks his keys from the counter and wonders why Hinata is visiting in the first place. He doesn’t have any family here, at least not any that Tobio can remember. Even if he did, he’d visit them instead, Tobio supposes. So the question still stands: why _the hell_ is Hinata showing up so suddenly?

As enigmatic as ever, isn’t he?

The thought makes Tobio roll his eyes as he pulls on his coat and loops a knit scarf around his neck. He buries his nose in the fabric and steps out his door into the night air. The airport is about 25 minutes away, so he hopes Hinata is dressed for the bitter wind because if he isn’t then sucks to be him. 

He grabs an extra jacket on the way out, just in case. He can’t finally beat Hinata in an official match if his arms fall off.

Being on a different team than him has been quite the experience. Tobio could easily read the moves of others on his team, most of them were on par with Hinata’s abilities as well. However, there has never been the same tell-tale jolts of electricity weaving through every muscle fiber in his body that he felt when making a pass to Hinata. Something about that had been utterly addicting…

And now he’s going to pick up the little shit from the airport. Lucky him.

The airport isn’t super busy, though it still has a decent crowding of people, much to Tobio’s disappointment. He huffs, keeping his hands clenched deep in his coat pockets as he trudges through the teeming building, eyes planted firmly to the floor. He doesn’t really know where he’s going, he has never been one for travelling…or remembering directions…or remembering in general.

Tobio finds a suitable corner to station himself (no, he is _not_ cowering, thank you very much) and pulls out his phone to look at the time.

 _8:23_ , his phone glares mockingly at him. Tobio had no qualms in scowling right back at it. What time had Hinata’s flight been? He texted somewhere around 6:45 so two hours after that would be 9:45, right? He still had quite a while to wait it seems—wait what the hell? No, 8:45 would be two hours after that. But Hinata said “about” which means that it won’t be _exactly_ two hours on the nose. God, this would be so much easier if he had _any_ of the details. But why would he? The person who sent the message is a complete idiot and _of course_ dumbass Hinata would—

“Kageyama?”

Tobio’s head whips up much faster than he cares to admit.

Hinata is standing a couple yards away, staring at him with wide amber eyes. He’s in a plain t-shirt and gym shorts (not at all dressed for the weather, Tobio notices with a grimace). And

he’s…tanner. His skin can only be described as sunkissed by the gods themselves. Were t-shirts supposed to be that tight? Oh _shit._

Tobio had known Hinata was coming but…that is wildly different than having Hinata actually in front of him.

Then he’s smiling, all teeth and no eyes. (Any other observations are strangely muddled and caught in an entanglement of multiple words and sentences running into one another. Is this what a computer feels like when it short circuits?) “You didn’t have to wait for me right at the gate, _Bakayama_. I could’ve found the pick-up area myself, y’know.”

Tobio jerks as if he had been slapped, immediately turning to find a sign telling him his location and trying desperately to force the blood to stop flowing to his cheeks. Sure enough, he had happened upon the gate area and hadn’t even noticed it. He inhales and keeps his head turned away from Hinata, hoping beyond all hopes that he mistakes his pinched face of embarrassment for a scowl. “You definitely would’ve gotten lost, dumbass.”

Hinata raises a challenging eyebrow. “And you wouldn’t have?”

“Of course not!”

Tobio has no fucking idea where the pick-up area is.

Hinata laughs, face scrunching as he adjusts the duffle bag on his shoulder and throws his arm around Tobio’s waist. Never in his life has Tobio had to fear someone hugging him and then _picking him up_ but here Hinata is: grin pressed into his ribs, strong hands grasping at Tobio’s back as if he’s about to lift him. Tobio sputters for a second but before he can blink, Hinata begins to walk towards what Tobio presumes is the exit. “God, you’re stupid.”

 _“You’re_ the stupid one,” Tobio argues weakly through gritted teeth, falling into step beside the bouncing Hinata. “What are you even doing here?”

Hinata’s steps falter for a brief moment. Wide brown eyes turn to his own, holding a blank expression that tickles in the back of Tobio’s brain, but he can’t quite grasp. (They’re both out of practice when it comes to reading each other it seems. How irritating.)

A corner of Hinata’s lips quirk up as turns forward with a slightly puffed out chest. “I wanted to see if I could still make that vein pop out of your forehead obviously.”

“Wha-?!” Tobio shoves Hinata’s head away from him, trying to smother the other’s laughter spilling from his lips. “If I have a forehead vein then it’s because _you_ put it there with your stupidity.”

Hinata slaps his hands away, bounding out the glass doors of the airport and into the night air. “Mmm. I don’t think that’s how that works.”

“Have you always been a cheeky little shit?” Tobio huffs as he pulls his scarf over his rapidly reddening nose. This earns him a tongue stuck out at him and a giggle that would bounce around inside his skull for many days after.

Tobio shuffles his feet and eyes Hinata’s energetic form from the corner of his eye. The shorter man is practically vibrating, Tobio figures it’s from being contained in a plane for hours on end. He wonders if this is what Hinata’s teammates have to deal with after _every_ bus ride, he certainly did in high school. If so, he really isn’t sure how Hinata hasn’t been murdered by one of them yet.

Tobio snorts and turns to start the trek back to his apartment, Hinata falling into step beside him. They walk like that for several minutes, nothing but the sounds of their breathing passing between them. It brings up memories of long walks home spent in animated arguments or passionate discussions about volleyball, the air always sparking with some kind of electricity. Currently, there is only the thick puffs of awkwardness filling his lungs and making him anxiously fiddle his fingers on the inside of his pockets.

“Sooooo…” Hinata drawls out, still bobbing on the balls of his feet slightly while they strolled. His hair, longer than Tobio ever remembers it being, falls in gentle curls around his face, swaying with every movement. “What are we gonna do?”

Tobio regards him with an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘ _we_ ’?”

Hinata looks as if he’s going to slap Tobio’s arm but he freezes midair and brings his arm back to his side stiffly. Huh. “I _mean,_ you’re hosting me for the night! Ta-da!” Hinata pauses to strike a pose, arms stretched wide with jazz hands, as if he had just presented the greatest news.

Tobio’s stomach twists at the sight of his wide smile and idea that Hinata would travel all this way just to spend time with him (something that’s so ridiculous he _has_ to be making this up, surely). His heart pounds beneath his burning chest. Idiot.

Tobio tugs the scarf higher on his cheeks to keep Hinata from seeing how suddenly warm they’ve gotten and averts his eyes from the sliver of pale freckled skin peeking out from the hem of Hinata’s t-shirt. He walks faster than before. “Well before we do anything, we have to get you in the right clothes, stupid.” He thrusts the jacket he’d kept thrown over his shoulder directly into Hinata’s face and continues talking over his squeak of protest. “Did you even bother to look at the weather before hopping on that plane?”

“Ah,” Hinata has the decency to look sheepish as he jogs to catch up with Tobio’s long strides, hands fumbling to find the sleeves of the oversized jacket. “Well, no. I didn’t really do anything at all before coming here. I should have some clothes in here…I think.”

Tobio shakes his head. “Good. You can change at—”

Before he could even consider his next words an obnoxiously loud, “ _WAAAAHH!_ ” interrupts him. Tobio reaches a hand up to cover the ear closest to Hinata. “What the _hell?”_

Hinata is already sprinting forward, leaving a very confused Tobio standing in the middle of the sidewalk. “Hey! Don’t run off, dumbass!” Tobio takes off after him. It takes a surprising amount of effort to catch up—how had Hinata managed to get even faster? —and by the time he does, Hinata has already stopped in a shop window, sparkling eyes fixated intently on a poster.

“Look! That’s not fair! Why do you get a poster!” Hinata points an accusing finger at the offending piece of paper but there’s a small smile gracing his lips.

Tobio sighs. The poster is not just of him. It has his entire team on it, lined up in a v-formation with him at the head of it, palming a volleyball with one hand and a fierce glare marring his face. (He really doesn’t like that poster.)

“You’re not the only one with sponsors,” Tobio rolls his eyes and continues to walk towards his apartment.

He gets a couple yards ahead before he hears the jingling of a shop bell. He gets a few more yards before he registers that Hinata is no longer beside him. He wants to keep walking but the morbid curiosity…is astoundingly powerful. His lip twitches. And the next thing he knows, he’s inside a warm shop searching for the dumbest person ever to grace the country of Japan.

The place is simple, nothing really special about the plain shelves and bland wall color. Cans of god-only-knows-what littered the shelves in a cluttered form of order. The dust is suffocating, settling in his lungs unpleasantly as he wrinkles his nose to prevent himself from sneezing. _Of course_ , this would be the place that Hinata sprinted into.

It didn’t take long to find the one splash of color in the mundane atmosphere of the store, especially not when said splash of color consists of wild orange curls bobbing about. Tobio opens his mouth to give his typical _what the hell_ _are you doing_ speech, but he immediately chokes on them when he sees that Hinata has the poster that had been hanging in the window firmly gripped in his hands. It didn’t help that the idiot had this stupid gleam in his eyes and lower lip caught between his teeth in an obviously failing attempt to hold back his mirth.

Tobio groans and lunges for the picture, which Hinata easily dodges with a cackle escaping his lips. “No. You _are not_ —”

“Oi!” Hinata emphasizes his interruption with a smack to Tobio’s forehead with the rolled-up poster. Tobio makes a grab for it and fails again. “ _You_ are not taking _this_ away from me. Look at it! It’s golden.”

The last thing Tobio wants to do is look at the stupid picture—that he didn’t want to be published in the first place, mind you—Hinata has unrolled and shoved in his face. 

“Look, look, look, look,” Hinata’s chuckles mar every syllable. “Everyone else here looks so pleasant and has at least half of a smile. See?”

No. Tobio can’t see because the poster is way too close to his face for him to see anything other than vague blobs of other players.

“Then there’s—” Hinata chokes on a laugh, taking a moment to let it out before continuing, “—then there’s _you_ . You look so—so _grrr_ —”

 _Wheeze_.

“—and the rest are so nice. And I just—”

Another wheeze.

“—imagined you doing your best to smile and you just c-couldn’t!”

This wheezing was starting to sound like a lung problem.

“H-how could you expect me not t-to buy this? You look ready to—to kill a man!”

And it is in this moment that Tobio has so many regrets.

His fingers twitch in time with the muscle under his eye as Hinata continues to fill the store with his obnoxious laughter. “Are you done?”

Hinata swipes a tear—a _genuine_ fucking tear—from his eye and grins at Tobio so widely he thinks it might split his face all the way to his orange roots. “Never.”

With a single word and his flashing eyes, Hinata has him completely silenced. A strike of something akin to fondness rails him directly in the stomach. Tobio’s throat is very dry suddenly.

Hinata tugs his coat sleeve. “C’mon,” he draws Tobio to the register. “You think about where we’re going next while I pay!”

“You’re not going to actually buy that,” Tobio says blandly. Hinata sticks his tongue out and releases his arm to skip around the other aisles. With a roll of his eyes, Tobio drops his head and begins to count the seemingly infinite number of water stains painted above them.

A few minutes later, they’re back out on the icy sidewalk trudging towards Tobio’s apartment, the only sounds being their footsteps and a rolled poster bouncing around Hinata’s duffle bag.

* * *

Shouyou is more than pleased with the outcome of his unexpected trip.

Bothering Kageyama was one of the highlights of his high school career. Seeing that same scowl translated to the Adult Kageyama brings bouts of nostalgia tangling around in his stomach and heat curling on his cheeks. 

Shouyou snickers as he maneuvers his shoes through the legs of his jeans while simultaneously shoving his head through the neck of his sweater. A plain coat and a scarf are thrown on and a discolored hat is plopped on his head. One glance in the mirror later, he’s back out in Kageyama’s living room where said person is still standing awkwardly.

“I’m finally warm!” Shouyou exclaims, hands spread to half-heartedly model his new outfit.

Kageyama blinks in his direction, eyes traveling up and down Shouyou’s body in a way that sets his heart aflame. He doesn’t say anything. Turning away from him, Kageyama asks, “What did you want to do while you were here?”

“Hm,” Shouyou scratches the back of his neck. “Uh, I didn’t plan anything about this trip. I only came because I…”

Kageyama’s head tilts and god _damnit_ if it isn’t the most endearing thing Shouyou has ever seen in his life. His face heats so rapidly, Shouyou fears he might pass out from the sudden rush of blood. He’d almost let something slip that he hadn’t even processed himself. It would be rather in character for him, he thinks, to blurt out to Kageyama that he’s missed him so much because he’s _in love_ with him. He wants to never be without him again. He wants to talk to him every day even when their jobs take them to lands far apart from one another. No matter the circumstances, Shouyou wants to continue meeting Kageyama at the top, and then return home and continue conversing because he _loves Kageyama._

“…Oh. That makes much more sense,” Shouyou mutters to himself.

Kageyama hears him and makes a noise of confusion.

Shouyou smiles, a throaty laugh bubbling from deep within him. “I missed you, Yamayama.”

Still Kageyama doesn’t look convinced. His weight shifts awkwardly in the foyer, socked feet slipping on the tile with every movement, his jacket is still halfway on and his brows draw together to form a large wrinkle on his forehead. Shouyou’s grin widens. His pulse quickens and he prepares himself for his next course of action.

* * *

Tobio really, really doesn’t know what’s going on. This whole situation is rather confusing to him, honestly. Hinata propelling himself so carelessly to a large city on a whim, for what? Seeing Tobio? Hinata, slowly approaching him, red curls piled as high as ever on top of his angled head, soft distant eyes wide and lips parted as the starlight shines around him like he’s an ethereal being. _That_ Hinata, would travel all this way…for _him?_

“Do you remember what I told you in middle school?” Hinata’s breath fans across his neck. (When had he gotten so close?)

There’s a tightness in Tobio’s chest as his mind carries him to the far-off lands of his past, buried deep within the crevices of his mind, bringing forth a memory he finds himself revisiting over and over again, even after all this time. “You said you’d beat me someday, no matter how long it took you to do it.”

“Yeah,” Hinata breathes.

That single word, despite its simplicity, rolls and unfurls inside his chest like a rag doll thrown into the raging sea. The wind whispers of times long gone, the phrases he once was desensitized to now carry peals of laughter and wisps of curling orange against a blackened sky. It’s confirmation that he is not the only one who has been waiting with anticipation to face one another once more, to _see_ him again.

It dawns on Tobio with the rising sun, that he is completely at the mercy of the wind, even after everything. And that, oh _god,_ he’s been so excruciatingly in love with Hinata for _so long_ it’s embarrassing. This isn’t necessarily surprising, but it does add another layer to this oddly tense conversation they’re having.

“What if,” Hinata continues. “What if we kept being rivals even after I beat you? Like…for the rest of our volleyball careers?”

Tobio can only nod, possible responses muddling in his brain until he’s dizzy. He blindly grasps at one. “And after that?”

“Do you want there to be an ‘after volleyball?’” Hinata runs a hand up his bicep, palm molding to muscles in his arm perfectly.

Tobio’s pride scatters to the wind. “Not if it means you’ll stop chasing me.”

Hinata lets out a soft laugh. “I’m glad we both agree. We’ll never stop playing together then.”

Tobio thinks for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly. “So, like, eternal volleyball? Partners and rivals always?”

“Wow, that sounds kind of like marriage, huh?”

A beat passes. Tobio’s heart speeds up to a dangerous point. “…what?”

“Uhhhh…” Hinata looks blank, like he’s just now processing his own words. Or maybe he’s just now processing the _meaning_ behind his words.

“Would you? Get married to me, I mean,” Tobio asks, timidness creeping into his voice.

“Jeez, Tobio, I haven’t even told you I love you yet—”

“You _hah?”_

“—and you’re already proposing to me. Are you sure _you_ would want to?”

He isn’t sure if he’s the one this question should be directed at. _Of course,_ Tobio would want to. His grandfather had promised him someone stronger and since that day, he’s been waiting tirelessly for that person to enter his life. Then, at one of his weakest points, Hinata whirls into his life, stealing his breath and chipping away at the armor around his heart with every promising declaration.

Hinata is his partner, someone he’s been able to rely on from the get-go, though Tobio was reluctant at first. Time and time again, even while he was away with training, Hinata has been _there._ Why wouldn’t he want to have that for the rest of his life if Hinata was offering it? “I…I waited for you long enough. There’s no one else it could be except you.”

His hand cradles Tobio’s jaw and he surges up to press his forehead to Tobio’s, amber eyes flashing in a severeness that almost forces Tobio to his knees. “Good,” he whispers, then captures Tobio’s lips with his own.

Hinata kisses exactly how Tobio expects him to. His mind and spirit constantly urge him to act, constantly moving and swaying like the tides of the ocean. It is so easy to get swept up in; sometimes Tobio is completely blindsided, getting carried away into the undertow, and others Tobio can swim along with it to reach unholy speeds. It’s invigorating the way Hinata’s lips drag him along the current, ensuring that their speeds match up, that Tobio doesn’t become overwhelmed in the onslaught of the tempest that is Hinata Shouyou’s love.

Outwardly, he feels a hand is clutching at his shirt, right above his heart, twisting, then pulling the fabric taunt. He wonders vaguely how far it could stretch without splitting and if Hinata was now _capable_ of ripping his shirt right off of him. He put an end to that line of thought rather quickly—too dangerous.

Tobio reluctantly pulls back, doesn’t venture far as the first thing that comes to his mind, spills from his lips. “Stay with me.”

“Gladly.” Hinata kisses him again.

Tobio allows himself to get swept away this time, completely giving into the push and pull of the tide that Hinata controls.

The next morning, Tobio finds himself walking Hinata back to the airport, under eye bags weighing heavy on his cheekbones. Hinata doesn’t look much better for the wear, but the smile that is perpetually on his lips is enough to keep Tobio from apologizing profusely to him. One sleepless night won’t be detrimental; at least, not when it was spent in deep discussion with the person who means the most to him in the world.

He isn’t permitted to go very far into the airport, unfortunately and all too soon, he has to say goodbye when he feels like he’s only just said hello.

“We play each other in a couple weeks,” Tobio comments casually. 

“Yeah, we do.” Hinata looks between their entwined hands and the sign pointing to his next destination in the airport. “Bring your best, Kageyama. I’ll beat you this time.”

Tobio’s grin turns sharp. “I’d like to see you try.”

Hinata squeezes his hand as if to say he’s up for the challenge. Tobio squeezes back. He better be up for it after all the training he’s done in Brazil.

“I’ll see you then, Tobio. I’ll text you later?” He seems hesitant to ask but Tobio is quick to nod in reassurance.

Then he lets go, leaving his promises in Tobio’s outstretched palm. Tobio clasps onto them with eager fingers, already counting down the seconds until the approaching day where they will face each other once more.

* * *

_4 weeks later_

* * *

3-1.

Shouyou has done it. He’s _won._

His teammates gather around him in celebration, but his gaze magnetically draws to Kageyama. Sweat pouring down his face, he grins like a maniac as if he was the one who had won the game. In his eyes there’s a promise of later and Shouyou clings to that desperately as the endgame undertakings ensue.

Sure enough, an hour later, Kageyama is at his side, tugging the end of his jacket sleeve in the direction of his hotel room.

Shouyou gladly follows, fingers lacing with Kageyama’s easily, and he starts up his incessant rambling. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking.”

“Hm?” Kageyama seems a little distracted but Shouyou continues anyway.

“When people get married, they usually change their last names or hyphenate them or something like that—” Shouyou gestures around them randomly “—but I think we should do something different so we don’t have to change our jerseys or anything.”

“Okay?” Kageyama sounds quite skeptical.

“Why don’t we change our _first_ names instead! But not completely, we just combine them.”

“You want to wh—”

“So, you’d be Toyou and _I’d_ be Shobio.”

“…what?”

Kageyama pulls out his room key and eyes Shouyou from his peripheral like he’s lost his mind. Maybe he has, but he’s so insanely happy he can’t bring himself to care.

“We’ll be Toyou Kageyama and Shobio Hinata! I think it’s interesting and that way people will know that we’re married--!”

With a click the room snaps open and before Shouyou can breathe, Kageyama has a death grip on the front of his shirt and he’s dragged into the pitch-black room. His back slams against the nearest wall and Kageyama’s lips somehow manage to find his in the dark, tongue immediately seeking entrance. Shouyou gasps as he parts his lips to kiss him properly.

Hands grip onto his face so hard it almost hurts but Shouyou slings his arm around broad shoulders and beckons him closer. Kageyama’s knee slides in between his and a groan escapes his throat.

Kageyama whispers against his lips. “I have something for you.”

Shouyou’s head swims, mouth seeking Kageyama’s once more. “Can it wait until tomorrow?”

They crash back together. Shouyou’s fingernails drag down the back of Kageyama’s jersey, catching on the vinyl ’20’ ironed there. Kageyama presses his torso completely against Shouyou, shoulder to hips. Shouyou hisses at the contact.

“I want to…” Kageyama groans and gasps at Shouyou’s teeth brushing against his neck. “I need to give you something. Please.”

God _damnit_ Shouyou can’t say no to him. Shouyou rests his forehead against Kageyama’s shoulder and nods, quelling his arousal so Kageyama can step away and turn on the light.

He seems sheepish, as he fumbles through his duffle bag. Shouyou watches as Kageyama deeply breathes in then out and stands to face him. He slowly unfurls a chain and places it carefully around Shouyou’s neck. The weight of a light golden ring rests at the end, right on his chest.

“Um. That’s how people will know we’re…you know,” he clears his throat and takes a step back. Shouyou tenderly brushes his fingers over the precious metal that had tenderly been placed around his neck. “I didn’t know your ring size either, so...”

Tobio scratches his cheek and Shouyou’s heart is so incredibly full, it might stop beating if Kageyama keeps doing things like this. He just might though, since they have the whole rest of their lives for moments such as this.

“Do you have one?” Shouyou croaks, tears threatening to spring into his eyes.

“Not yet,” he whispers, resting his hands on Shouyou’s chest, thumbs running along the chain. “I wanted to make sure it was okay.”

Shouyou wraps his arms around Kageyama’s waist and laughs wetly. “Yeah, of course it is.”

He draws Kageyama into another kiss, humming contentedly at the soft pressure. Teasingly he leans in to murmur in his ear, “Can’t wait to call you Toyou.”

Shouyou is promptly shoved away from Kageyama, hotel room filling with laughter and veiled threats. There is no other place on earth either one of them would rather be.

Shouyou thinks that maybe he isn’t as bad at making decisions as he previously thought.

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaand yeah. there ya go! they are idiots and they love volleyball and they love each other, your honor. they compel me to write these things. So, I maaaaaay write a nsfw sequel if anyone is interested. BUT I'll leave this one as is and just make it a series so I can leave this one sfw, if that's the case.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed this pure brain rot!
> 
> EDIT: the sequel is now up!
> 
> [My twitter!](https://twitter.com/meettheroyalmes)


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